Thursday, December 30, 2010

For me, this time between Christmas and New Years is the laziest week of the year. Many are off work, and those that aren't are probably doing a half-assed job anyway. Generally people are tired, distracted, and really not into any heavy thinking. This is exactly how I feel.

Anyway, to help make up for this just-phoned-it-in post, I will say that I have so many exciting things planned for the new year, including a video on how to do your own sous vide steaks at home (my first test pictured here), using absolutely no special equipment. Spoiler alert: it was awesome. Stay tuned!

We had a small xmas dinner at my home this year, so I prepared 2 turkey breasts sous-vide. Came out pretty good although it was a bit challenging to control the exact water temp. Interested to see your method Chef John!

This will be interesting. Once I looked up sous vide to find out it is French boil in the bag. I am keeping an open mind but it brings up mental images of boiled food and mediochre boil in the bag meals from the 80's. I am guessing it will be much better than that. Happy New Year to all the Foodwishers.

Looking forward to your method chef John. I've ordered all of the parts to build my own DIY immersion circulator, I just haven't put it together yet. Still need a few more items. Anyway, I've been excited by the possibilities for that method for a while now. Have a Happy New Year and can't wait to see the video!

Oh Food Junkie, it *is* a great technique and it's conjuring all the wrong images in your mind. Cooking sous-vide avoids contact with the water so it doesn't extract flavour from your dish the way poaching or boiling would. In fact it can help your dish absorb *more* flavour while cooking. And because it allows you extremely fine control over the temp, it means you cook proteins to their *exact* ideal doneness. For steak it will mean you cook it to *precisely* medium, no guessing or timing. Chef John's pic looks like he finished it off with a quick sear for colour.

How fortunate some of you are that you are either not working the week between Christmas and New Years, or that you're working "half-assed" ...

I'm a Nurse, and a "half-assed" job isn't good enough for my patients or their families. I doubt it's good enough for the victims or families who require the assistance of other "First Responders" or unsung hero's like those who take care of the daily needs of loved ones in long term care or hospice.

Sorry, but not sure why that would tick you off? Those observations (shared by many others) were for slackers like me and my friends, NOT for vital public servants like doctors, nurses, cops and firemen!

I don't think anyone with half a brain would suggest that professionals responsible for the well being of others should ever do their jobs half-assed.